When TV shows are selected for Outstanding Writing Emmys, the nominated screenplays are released to the public. It’s rare anyone cares, but Game of Thrones fans are different animals. This year, HBO released the script of the Season 7 finale, “The Dragon and the Wolf,” for all to see, and the details are pretty interesting.
Season 8 is (likely) less than a year away, but the final season can’t arrive soon enough. Game of Thrones has always been a crystal ball show, enticing viewers to guess at predictions via hints along the way. That cue was taken from the original book series, by George R.R. Martin, who fostered the same type of fan obsession by stoking the flames via blog entries or con appearances.
So, what can we glean from this newly released, Emmy-nominated script? In this, the long winter of waiting for the final episodes, some fire has emerged.
The first thing to know is “The Dragon and the Wolf” script contains tons of expository descriptions written in a relaxed, slack-jawed manner that’ll surprise many viewers. Writers David Benioff and D.B. Weiss use colloquial language to express their vision and even address some actors directly (“She wears a hood to protect her from the wind and the snow, making her look like The French Lieutenant’s Woman, a
reference Sophie Turner will just have to Google..”)
The tone is definitely off from the show, but it doesn’t matter. The sections of non-dialogue are just there to help Benioff and Weiss along the way. However, they do reveal some things we didn’t know from watching the finale. Here’s a quick breakdown:
1. What we know or didn’t know: Jaime leaves Cersei to join the Northern troops against the dead army.
What the script reveals: “He trots forward, never looking back again, a lone horseman heading north on the Kingsroad.” If you were holding out hope Jaime would turn around and go back to Cersei, think again. The words “never looking back again” seal Jaime’s fate as a Lannister enemy from here on out.
2. What we know or didn’t know: Do Tormund and Beric survive the Night King’s assault on the Wall? Fans were never given a clear shot of the two heroes making it to safety as the Wall comes crumbling down around them. They probably make it since we don’t see them die, but it’s hard to imagine anyone surviving all that destruction.
What the script reveals: “(Tormund and Beric) run for their lives and disappear from view.” This one sentence tells us both men survive. You’ll see them next year.
3. What we know or didn’t know: The Army of the Dead looks huge, but how huge?
What the script reveals: “Emerging from the frozen coastal forest, the ARMY OF THE DEAD comes in force. All of them, 100,000 strong, with hundreds of WHITE WALKER officer corps on their dead horses.” So we know how big the dead army is now (like, Daenerys tells Jaime at the Dragonpit, “at least 100,000”), as well as how many White Walkers are out there.
4. What we know or didn’t know: The Night King raises Viserion from the dead.
What the script reveals: “He’s done the same thing to Viserion that he did to Craster’s sons. Only those were babies, and this is a dragon.” This bit of information re-contextualizes Viserion as more of a White Walker than a normal wight. It could mean Viserion has the ability to raise the dead himself… in case another dragon goes down.
Read the entire script of “The Dragon and the Wolf” here.
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